count1

to check over (the separate units or groups of a collection) one by one to determine the total number; add up; enumerate:

He counted his tickets and found he had ten.

2.

to reckon up; calculate; compute.

3.

to list or name the numerals up to:

Close your eyes and count ten.

4.

to include in a reckoning; take into account:

There are five of us here, counting me.

5.

to reckon to the credit of another; ascribe; impute.

6.

to consider or regard:

He counted himself lucky to have survived the crash.

verb (used without object)

7.

to count the items of a collection one by one in order to determine the total:

She counted three times before she was satisfied that none was missing.

8.

to list or name numerals in order:

to count to 100 by fives.

9.

to reckon numerically.

10.

to have a specified numerical value.

11.

to be accounted or worth something:

That first try didn't count—I was just practicing.

12.

to have merit, importance, value, etc.; deserve consideration:

Every bit of help counts.

13.

to have worth; amount (usually followed by for):

Intelligence counts for something.

noun

14.

the act of counting; enumeration; reckoning; calculation:

A count of hands showed 23 in favor and 16 opposed.

15.

the number representing the result of a process of counting; the total number.

16.

an accounting.

17.

Baseball. the number of balls and strikes, usually designated in that order, that have been called on a batter during a turn at bat:

a count of two balls and one strike.

18.

Law. a distinct charge or theory of action in a declaration or indictment:

He was found guilty on two counts of theft.

19.

Textiles.

a number representing the size or quality of yarn, especially the number based on the relation of weight to length of the yarn and indicating its degree of coarseness.

the number of warp and filling threads per square inch in woven material, representing the texture of the fabric.

20.

Bowling. the number of pins struck down by the first ball rolled by a bowler in the frame following a spare and included in the score for the frame in which the spare was made.

21.

Physics.

a single ionizing reaction registered by an ionization chamber, as in a Geiger counter.

the indication of the total number of ionizing reactions registered by an ionization chamber in a given period of time.

22.

Archaic. regard; notice.

23.

the count, Boxing. the calling aloud by the referee of the seconds from 1 to 10 while a downed boxer remains off his feet. Completion of the count signifies a knockout, which the referee then declares:

A hard right sent the challenger down for the count.

Also called the full count.

adjective

24.

noting a number of items determined by an actual count:

The box is labeled 50 count.

Verb phrases

25.

count down, to count backward, usually by ones, from a given integer to zero.

26.

count in, to include:

If you're going to the beach, count me in.

27.

count off, (often used imperatively, as in the army) to count aloud by turns, as to arrange positions within a group of persons; divide or become divided into groups:

Close up ranks and count off from the left by threes.

28.

count on/upon, to depend or rely on:

You can always count on him to lend you money.

29.

count out,

Boxing. to declare (a boxer) a loser because of inability to stand up before the referee has counted 10 seconds.

to exclude:

When it comes to mountain climbing, count me out.

to count and apportion or give out:

She counted out four cookies to each child.

to disqualify (ballots) illegally in counting, in order to control the election.

count

v.

mid-14c., from Old French conter "add up," but also "tell a story," from Latin computare (see compute). Related: Counted; counting. Modern French differentiates compter "to count" and conter "to tell," but they are cognates.

n.

title of nobility, c.1300, from Anglo-French counte (Old French conte), from Latin comitem (nominative comes) "companion, attendant," the Roman term for a provincial governor, from com- "with" (see com-) + stem of ire "to go" (see ion). The term was used in Anglo-French to render Old English eorl, but the word was never truly naturalized and mainly was used with reference to foreign titles.

count

The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.Cite This Source

Idioms and Phrases with count down

count down

1.

Count backward from any number to zero to indicate time, as in The final seconds before take off were counted down: 10, 9, 8, etc. The down in this term refers to the decreasing size of the numbers. This usage originated in connection with the firing of missiles and spacecraft and has since been broadened to such events as the roll call of states at a political convention.
[ c. 1950
]

2.

Make final preparations for an event, as in Hong Kong was counting down to the day when it became part of mainland China. This usage is derived from def. 1.
[ Late 1950s
]